Kakashi froze at Senshi's words.
For him, Naruto and Sasuke receiving instruction from Senshi was not at all the same as Naruto and Sasuke actually joining Senshi's mercenary group.
Hiring Senshi as a tutor would simply mean paying a top-tier private teacher, whereas joining Senshi's mercenary group meant signing up with a foreign armed force.
He also now understood why, despite him working as diligently as Naruto and Sasuke on mission after mission, his own progress had been so slow.
"Kakashi, would you like to join my mercenary group?"
Kakashi shook his head. "Lord Senshi, I'm sorry, but I must refuse."
As much as he wanted to get stronger, his loyalty was to the village.
After a moment's hesitation, he went so far as to ask, "Lord Senshi, wouldn't Naruto and Sasuke joining your mercenary group be detrimental to Konoha's interests?"
Senshi shook his head.
"I founded this group to assemble an outstanding team capable of solving all the clients' problems. My mercenary group doesn't target any ninja village, including Konoha. Once you join, you simply keep working missions and growing stronger."
"I also provide every one of my members with necessary guidance and support. My mercenary group grants a great deal of freedom and doesn't force anyone to do anything against their own conscience."
Pausing, he added, "Don't you, too, want to keep shining for Konoha—just like Naruto and Sasuke?"
Kakashi wavered at that.
Since Senshi's mercenary group had no ties to or conflict with any village, and did not force its members into unwanted obligations, while also offering Senshi's personal instruction and help—there really seemed to be no issue in joining.
So Kakashi answered solemnly, "Lord Senshi, please allow me to join your mercenary group."
No sooner had Kakashi spoken than a barrage of system messages echoed in Senshi's mind:
[Congratulations! Your mercenary group now has 10 members, unlocking additional functions!]
[Recruiting novices now requires only 40 "bond points" to invite them!]
[Growth Reward for group members: for every 2,000,000 ryō a member earns, they gain 1 Basic Lottery chance!]
[New function unlocked! Every member currently in the group receives 1 free lottery draw!]
Senshi: (ΩДΩ)!!!
Even someone like Senshi, used to all sorts of upheavals, was shocked for a moment. Right then, Kakashi—who had no clue what was happening—only saw a scratch-off card materialize out of thin air in front of him the moment he joined.
"Lord Senshi, w-what's this?" Kakashi asked, bewildered.
Senshi explained,
"It's a perk of joining. From now on, every time you earn 2,000,000 ryō in commissions, one of these scratch cards will appear out of nowhere. Once you scratch it, the card will turn itself into a prize—sometimes the reward is used automatically, sometimes a space-time jutsu will deposit it near you."
Hearing that, Kakashi was dumbfounded. So from now on, each time he made 2 million ryō, a scratch card would appear? What kind of incredible ninjutsu was this?
With growing curiosity, Kakashi scratched his new card and read the reward:
[Lightning Release: Lightning Ball ×1]
Reading the words, Kakashi was startled for a second, then his eyes widened in awe. The card in his hand vanished, turning into a massive flow of data that flooded into his mind. In the blink of an eye, he had learned Lightning Release: Lightning Ball. He even tried forming the seals for it on the spot—and it worked. He'd never studied that technique before in his life.
At that moment, Kakashi was too shocked to utter a single word. Finally, he realized why Naruto and Sasuke were putting in nonstop mission work. He also couldn't help thinking, As expected of Lord Senshi—managing even this kind of miraculous feat. Is this some top-tier ninjutsu?
While Kakashi reeled in amazement, Senshi used Wood-Style clones to go around explaining the situation to the group's other members, making sure they all understood. He expected that once they realized they could earn scratch cards from doing missions, Kakashi and the others would start grinding missions like crazy.
Indeed, after being informed, Naruto and Sasuke found out they, too, could now draw for random prizes. Naruto, upon learning missions would let him "draw a lottery" for a reward, was beyond excited. He turned to Sasuke:
"Sasuke, what'd you get?"
Sasuke shook his head. "I haven't scratched it yet." He was still inspecting the little scratch card that had appeared in front of him. With Senshi-sensei's space-time prowess, it wasn't too surprising, but he was intrigued about what he might find.
Naruto, meanwhile, asked one of Senshi's Wood-Style clones, "Senshi-sensei, once we've scratched the card, do we come see you for the reward?"
Senshi waved a finger. "No. If the reward is a jutsu or chakra, it's applied to you right away. If it's an item, it'll appear near you."
Hearing that confirmed, Naruto and Sasuke couldn't help marveling at just how astonishing Senshi's ability was. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn't believe ninjutsu like this existed. Knowing how the scratch card worked, Naruto said eagerly to Sasuke:
"Sasuke, let's see whose prize is better, yeah?"
"Huh?"
"Sasuke, don't tell me you're afraid of losing to me?"
"Even if I get something weaker than yours, so what?"
"Luck is part of strength, you know. Just watch me beat you!"
"Why do you assume your luck is better than mine, Naruto…?"
"Sasuke!"
"Naruto!"
And so they both got scratching. These cards were freebies from the newly unlocked feature, so any reward was pure gain—but both of them hoped for something good.
Naruto held the card in his left hand, a coin in his right:
[Fūma Shuriken ×2]
While Naruto worked, Sasuke revealed his own result:
[Ichiraku Ramen ×2]
With that, two big fūma shuriken lay on the ground before Naruto, while on a small table beside Sasuke were two bowls of Ichiraku Ramen.
Seeing that, Naruto's eyes went wide.
"Sasuke! Did you just pull the jackpot?!"
Sasuke rubbed his temples. "Naruto… I really wouldn't call this a jackpot."
Naruto had already dashed to the ramen bowls, peering closely and beaming. "Sasuke—this is real Ichiraku Ramen!"
Seeing Naruto virtually drooling, Sasuke gave a resigned sigh and handed him one bowl, while Naruto likewise passed one of the fūma shuriken to Sasuke. Sitting down at a nearby table, Naruto said to Senshi's clone, "Senshi-sensei, if only I could pull Ichiraku Ramen every time!"
Facing him, Sasuke remarked, "Naruto, that's probably just a consolation prize. We have to earn 2 million ryō for each card. Before, it took us nearly half a year to clear 20 million total—ten scratch cards. Even though we're stronger now, we really want to aim for bigger rewards to get the most out of it."
Naruto nodded. "Even so, having free Ichiraku Ramen is awesome!"
Sasuke saw no point continuing. He guessed Naruto wouldn't grasp what he was trying to say…
…
Karin's Kamui Space.
Karin had been about to start cooking when a scratch card materialized right in front of her, nearly giving her a heart attack. She almost used the "Senshi Summoning" out of alarm, suspecting someone had slipped a strange card in without warning. But before she could, Senshi warped in with the Kāma, explaining the situation.
Once she understood, Karin perked up happily. Compared to Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke, she was not surprised by Senshi's astounding abilities—she'd already seen too many unbelievable things following him around. Whatever miracles he pulled off, she accepted them all.
Gazing at Senshi, she asked, "Senshi, what kind of prizes can you get with this scratch card?"
Senshi shook his head. "No idea. Everything's random, so you'll have to scratch it and see."
She nodded, then started scraping away. Soon, she read the text:
[Karin-chan's Delicious Cooking ×3!]
Karin: (O_O)???
She paused, then delightedly realized three familiar, fully cooked lunch portions had appeared in front of her!
Senshi: (O_O)???
He looked at those three bento boxes of… oil? No, wait—these black substances?! He was completely confused. Shukaku and the others, overhearing Karin's conversation, immediately recognized it. Seeing she'd pulled three "boxes of oil," Shukaku clutched its bulging belly, laughing wildly.
"Hahaha! She got three boxes of oil—definitely an awful prize!"
Yet Matatabi and Saiken, who had seen these meals, weren't laughing at all. For a stretch of time, that had been their daily lunch.
Karin only confirmed their worst fears, quickly carrying the bentos to the three tailed beasts. "Aren't you lucky! Extra dinner tonight—my delicious cooking!"
The Two-Tails lifted a paw and said, "Ah, let Shukaku have it, he's hungry!"
The Six-Tails nodded gravely, "Yeah, yeah, Shukaku's starving!"
Shukaku: (O_O)?!?
Seeing the "oil bento" Karin put in front of him, Shukaku stammered, "Isn't this just… oil? We have lots of that in the desert. I can't be mistaken."
Karin flicked him on the head and retorted, "What nonsense! This is delicious cooking. Hurry up and eat!"
Shukaku: o(╥﹏╥)o
…
Back in the Land of Fire's Black Market:
Kakuzu and Fū were still grinding missions. The Land of Fire, as one of the Five Great Nations, had numerous black markets, each with a large supply of tasks. During his time in Konoha, Kakuzu basically lived in these black markets 24/7. The moment a scratch card appeared in front of Kakuzu, one of Senshi's Wood-Style clones approached, explaining everything.
Kakuzu listened, then said in a low tone, "Got it," outwardly calm but inwardly astonished. He guessed it was some ingenious space-time technique, given Senshi's mastery of such, but he'd never expected Senshi could go this far. As always, nothing was impossible for that legendary mercenary.
Senshi then asked curiously, "Where's your little assistant?"
Kakuzu pointed to a shop. "In there."
Senshi nodded—so Fū had gone shopping. He'd worried that maybe Kakuzu was out on missions solo again. Having relayed the new mercenary group function, Senshi's Wood-Clone departed.
When Fū emerged, she spotted Senshi's back in the distance and asked, "Kakuzu-sama, what did Lord Senshi want?"
Kakuzu nodded and replied, "He's implemented a new jutsu for our mercenary group—this one." He showed her the scratch card.
Fū: (O_O)???
It looked just like a normal scratch card. She stared at it a good while. "Kakuzu-sama, is this…?"
Kakuzu answered, "It isn't just some random card. It's bonded to Senshi's space-time ninjutsu. Once you scratch it, you get a reward. Going forward, for every 2,000,000 ryō I earn, I can claim one from Senshi."
Because this initial card was a freebie courtesy of the newly unlocked system, Kakuzu figured it wouldn't be something too impressive. He raked the foil off with a fingernail, revealing:
[Explosive Tag ×100!]
The moment he finished, 100 explosive tags appeared right in front of him. Fū was dumbstruck, amazed it was all real. Even Kakuzu, whose expression hardly changed, was inwardly stunned. For sure, Senshi was unstoppable, truly a timeless legend of the black market.
Kakuzu calmly scooped up some tags. Such a haul… definitely profit. But for some reason, he had a nagging sense of foreboding in his five hearts, as if the tags tugged at some deep bond. Nevertheless, he thought for a second and then handed the stack to Fū: "I won't use these. You hold on to them."
Fū: (〃'▽'〃)
She was elated. If she had to buy that many tags with her own money, who knew how expensive it'd be? Delighted, she exclaimed, "Wow, Kakuzu-sama, that's awesome luck!"
After giving them to Fū, Kakuzu decided he'd keep blitzing the Land of Fire's black markets to show them what "second to none" meant…
…
In the Land of Lightning's black market, one of Senshi's Wood-Clones sought out Hidan and thoroughly explained the mercenary group's new feature. Even though Hidan was something of a blockhead, he got it:
Reverently, he told Senshi's clone, "Lord Jashin, I understand! Every time I earn 2,000,000 ryō, I shall receive your divine blessing!"
Hearing him, Senshi could only exhale. Of all his ten group members, only Hidan might fail to use the new function properly. Fortunately, his concern was unwarranted. Hidan proceeded to scratch away:
[Blood-Soaked Triple-Scythe ×1]
Clang!
A huge triple-bladed scythe dropped onto the ground out of nowhere.
Hidan: (O_O)???
He picked it up, compared it to the scythe he already had, then declared in sudden enlightenment, "I see! Lord Jashin, you want me to become a dual-scythe wielder!"
Senshi: (O_O)???
What kind of logic is that? Couldn't he just replace the old one, or keep the new one as backup? If he got yet another scythe, would Hidan use three-weapon style?
Hastily, Senshi corrected him: "Hidan, you need to think for yourself. Figure out what fits your situation. You can keep the new one as a spare or swap it for the old one. If you really think dual-scythe style makes you stronger, you can do that."
Even as Senshi spoke, the "Voice of Jashin" echoed in Hidan's ears: "Foolish Hidan, do you really need me to answer something this trivial? Decide for yourself!"
After Senshi finished explaining the scratch-card mechanism to all his mercenaries, things went exactly as he expected. Kakuzu, Hidan, Naruto, Sasuke, the Musen trio—everyone lost themselves in mission frenzy. All you needed was 2,000,000 ryō to draw a card, and those cards could yield unbelievably mysterious rewards. Within no time, the black markets around the Land of Fire were overrun by Senshi's people snapping up every commission, forcing the black-market bosses to impose limits so other mercenaries wouldn't be put out of work entirely.
Even so, Kakuzu, Kakashi, and the rest managed to claim no small number of jobs. By day's end, Kakashi went to find the Third Hokage on the rooftop of the Hokage building. Thanks to co-hosting the Chunin Exams with Sunagakure, Konoha had earned a huge profit, making Hiruzen revert to a laid-back old man contently smoking his pipe. Yet as soon as Kakashi appeared, he realized that mood wouldn't last.
Noticing Kakashi's presence, Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, looking comfortable. "Kakashi, is something the matter?"
Kakashi nodded solemnly. "Yes, Lord Hokage. There's something extremely important I need to report."
Hiruzen blinked, setting aside his carefree demeanor. "What's so vital?"
He knew Kakashi well. If Kakashi said it was urgent, it truly must be. Carefully choosing his words, Kakashi said gravely, "Lord Hokage—Naruto and Sasuke… have joined Senshi's mercenary group. For a long while now, Senshi has secretly been instructing them."
Hiruzen nearly dropped his pipe, feeling faint. The pride of Konoha, the future of Konoha—Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke—have actually enlisted in an outsider's organization?!
His face darkened. "Kakashi, are you sure about this?"
Kakashi nodded decisively. "Very sure. We have ample evidence, and I directly confirmed it with Lord Senshi."
Hiruzen: (O_O)?!?
He was dumbfounded. So you can just… ask Senshi that? To him, discovering that Naruto and Sasuke belonged to Senshi was unacceptable—Konoha as a whole could never agree.
Granted, his own grandson Konohamaru also received Senshi's training, eventually becoming a hidden trump card for Konoha. Naruto and Sasuke, who had shown tremendous potential during the Exams, were likewise crucial to Konoha's future.
Learning now that they both belonged to Senshi left him furious and dismayed—he felt Senshi had overstepped.
And it got even worse. Kakashi went on, "Lord Hokage, not only did Naruto and Sasuke join… I have joined Senshi's mercenary group too."
Hiruzen: (O_O)?!?
Now he was truly stupefied. Sure, Naruto and Sasuke were young and gullible, possibly tricked into a 'wrong path' by Senshi's sweet talk—but Kakashi?! Raised in the Will of Fire, a paragon of Konoha loyalty… how could he betray the village to sign with Senshi's group?
Even if the benefits were extraordinary, Hiruzen could never believe Kakashi would betray Konoha. Plus, if Kakashi had joined, then openly came to tell him… was he trying to recruit the Hokage as well?
Hiruzen's face darkened severely. "Kakashi, why would you betray Konoha by joining Senshi's group?"
He simply couldn't fathom how many moves Senshi—and Amegakure—had pulled off unnoticed within Konoha. Kakashi, the steadfast Konoha elite, turned out to have been folded into Senshi's ranks all along.
Seeing Hiruzen's scowl and hearing his question, Kakashi realized the Hokage misunderstood. Without beating around the bush, he laid out exactly what Senshi's mercenary group was:
"Lord Hokage, here's the truth: Senshi founded his mercenary group to raise a unit of ninja who can handle any situation, accept any challenge, and execute all sorts of commissioned tasks efficiently. It's not directed against any hidden village or any power in the shinobi world. The group's members get Senshi's personal guidance and necessary help, without having to do anything against their will. And… this part is the most important."
Saying so, Kakashi took out several scratch cards from his tool pouch. Being an elite jōnin, it only took a few jobs of two million each for him to test the system—and he had already stockpiled quite a few.
Hiruzen: (O_O)?!?
He stared for a while. "What… are these?"
Kakashi explained, "They're scratch cards from Lord Senshi's mercenary group."
Hiruzen frowned. "And these do what?"
Given how specifically Kakashi brought them out, Hiruzen guessed these "cards" were remarkable. Kakashi's next words confirmed it:
"Lord Hokage, they're used to draw for prizes. Once you scratch the surface, the card magically transforms into whatever the 'winning' reward is."
Hearing that, Hiruzen's eyes went wide.
Hiruzen: (O_O)???
It sounded completely absurd—far beyond normal ninja logic. He pressed, "Such a special tool… must be hard to obtain, even for someone in Senshi's group, right?"
Kakashi shook his head. "No, Lord Hokage. After joining, every time we earn two million ryō in commissions, we automatically get a scratch card out of nowhere."
The Third Hokage was stunned. At this point, his mind was flooded with doubts.
Why does Senshi even want such a group? Is there any benefit for him? How does he know how much each member has earned, or where they are at the moment they hit two million?
Could such a thing really be accomplished by ninjutsu alone? And the scratch card turning directly into a jutsu or item… was Senshi giving out free stuff for no reason, or was there some deeper strategy at play?
~~~
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